München

In my last post, I was in the car on the way to Munich. Well now we have been to Munich, so here are some of our adventures. 

First of all, getting all of our things into the car was an adventure. 

We went to the circus, shortly after we arrived, with Simon's parents, brother, sister, and the part of the family we are staying with: Simon's aunt Martina and uncle Stephan, and cousin Nina. 

Simon had told me how different an American circus was from the circus he had known as a kid, and now I have seen both. They are most definitely very different! I personally enjoy both but the one we went to in Munich was like the circus you see in books or in cute movies or old TV shows. One act at a time with a small round arena in the center of the tent. We laughed at the clowns,  ooed and awed at the lions and elephants, and gasped in fear as the tight rope walkers and acrobats performed "impossible" stunts.  Here are a few photos:

 Lions

My favorite: the elephants 

Lea, Simon and me at the circus. 

Although one of the main planned events in Munich was sledding down south, there didn't  end up being any snow! :( 

So instead we made a plan B and went shopping.  No complaints.  We said goodbye to Simon's sister and cousin that morning as they headed off to a church camp for a week.  I'm so thankful to have gotten to spend so much time with Lea on our trip!

 Our "plan free" days are few on this trip, so it ended up being really nice, despite our disappointment, to not have the snow day.   Simon and I walked through downtown Munich, got in a lot of shopping, and then met up with Hannes, Martin and Irene at the Hofbräuhaus for dinner. 

Munich still had a lot of Christmas decorations up so we were able to enjoy a Christmas tree :)

Simon had made a reservation to avoid a wait but what we didn't know was that  a reservation was only for the more private second floor rather than the beer- garden style downstairs with the loud music and the promise of interesting people-watching at the community style tables.  Although we were surprised, it ended up being a good thing for us. We were able to still enjoy the good food and beverage, and even some quaint live music while we spent the evening together. 

Us outside the restaurant 

Simon and his beer :)

The menu

Our delicious strudel for dessert. 

Our waitress was so sweet, and even took a photo for us.  CHEESE!

The next morning Simon's Oma and Opa came over to where we were staying.

 We enjoyed a nice lunch and even snuck in a couple of group photos. 

Please note the impressive, accidental color coordination: Gray and Navy.  :)

I must say a big thank you to Stephan and Martina for their hospitality and putting us all up for a couple of nights. It was nice to spend time with them and enjoy a few days in Munich.